A Harsh Life
by silversilence0
Summary: For most of his life a nameless little boy only knew one thing. How to run and hide. He knew no one and was attached to no one. He never had parents or siblings and not even a home.' A fic about Duo as child.


_Disclaimer...zYouall nkow this so I don't think i need to bother._

_Enjoy the read, oh and if any one can tell me what AU menas that would be great! _

_I've seen people do this before but i really wanted to try my hand at it. Basically it's a Duo and Solo fic. Solo being blond was something I thought would fit and sincet here are no pictures done from the series of teh mysterious Solo I decided to make him look like what I thought he looked like._

Well anyways enjoy the story.

**Chapter 1: An unexpected Saviour**

For most of his life a nameless little boy only knew one thing. How to run and hide. He knew no one and was attached to no one. He never had parents or siblings and not even a home. Most of the time he felt he never did have anything except the cloths on his back.

At five years old he was an expert thief and slept alone on the streets. There was nothing to comfort him or to shelter him from the cold. Sometimes he'd be lucky if there was a box or even newspaper, but this night there was none.

It was a hard life being an orphan and he wasn't the only one. Walking slowly along the side of an empty street he stopped to look in to a shop. It was a children's clothing shop. He watched as a mother and her son were buying clothes for him to wear, theguessed theywas guessing for school. The boy was the same age and unlike him clean, and well kempt.

The boy sighed; he would never know a life like that. Instead he would have to grow up fast and learn the harsh realities of the world. No one cared what happened to him, and if they could they'd be happy to be rid of him.

At five years he knew who to trust and who not to, the soldiers were the cause that much he knew, but what was he to do about it. There was nothing a five-year-old boy with no home could do. There was no way he would be taken in. Turning away from the windows he continued walking.

Ever since he could remember people had called him dirty, and feral; what ever that meant, he'd have to ask someone. If only they would help. But there was a point to which he would ask for help.

Continuing down the road he saw a little girl with her older brother. He knew them for a few days now; they had lost their home and their parents. The boy knew the little girl was lucky to still have family and her older brother was perfect to protect her. Who did he have to protect him?

"Hey kid!" The older of the two called.

The boy froze and looked in their direction. Henoticed they had been begging for food or money. Something he would avoid as much as he could.

"Did you find any food?"

All he could do was shake his head. If he did he would have shared but he didn't and probably won't have any.

"That's alright. If we find any I'll try to find you and give you some." The older boy tried to comfort him.

"Thank you, but give her mine, she needs it more." He lied, technically he was the younger by a few years but he didn't want them to lose out on what meagre bits they do find. The girl was small and frail and needed to be helthy. He knew he was still okay for a few days without food, but she needed it sooner than him.

"Are you sure?" The boy asked him.

He nodded. He wasn't going to become reliant on them, there was no way.

"Well I hope you have a good night then, oh and stay away from the alley by the store house. I'm really not to sure why but someone else told me."

The boy nods again and walks away.

The storehouse was a very dangerous place for the younger children. Often the older street rats would stay there over night, taking the heated building for themselves. They would claim they should have it since they've been there for longer and deserved better. There was a problem though; out of most ofthem thefive-year-old boywas the one who had been there the longest. He really wished he could tell them off, but that would invite a beating, something he wanted to avoid.

Turning a corner he saw a bakery. Looking in the window the boy could smell the savoury smells of bread and the various pastries.

Without thinking he stepped in and looked around. He knew better than to touch anything. Moving from one end to the other he allowed the smells and the heat to seep into his bones.

"Hey kid!" The owner bellowed. This caused the boy to freeze on the spot. "Are you buying anything?"

At first he just stared at the man, and then he shook his head, "I don't have any money."

"What about your parents, are they around here?"

"No I'm sorry I don't have any, I'll leave if you want."

"No wait here, take these. Be sure to give this one to the boy and girl down that way." He guessed the owner was talking about the kids he had talked to earlier.

"Are you sure Mister?" he asked.

"Take it. I would be guilty for most of my life if I never gave food to the unfortunate children. Just be sure not to let the older boys see it okay."

The boy nodded and ran out the door. He had seriously considered stealing food from the bakery but after what happened he couldn't do that to the nice man. He wasn't foolish enough to ruin the trust he gains from people, even if it was only one person.

Running as fast as he could he made it to where the boy and girl sat. The girl was asleep and the boy was trying to keep them both warm. At first he couldn't remember his name, but it quickly came to him.

"Matt," He huffed. "I've got f..ffood."

"Really?" Matt obviously couldn't believe what he heard since he almost stood up and let his sister fall to the snowy cement. "What is it?"

"Bread and some cookies." The boy smiled as he reached out to wake Matt's sister. Giving her a gentle shake only to back up in horror.

"M.Matt! She won't wake up!"

"Huh?" Matt grabbed both her shoulders and shook her gently. It seemed to the nameless boy that this had happened before. "Common Shell wake up!"

After a few moments the girl finally woke up. The boy watched as she started to shiver and cough. "Here eat this it's still warm." The long haired boyhanded her a huge chunk of bread and three cookies. The rest he gave to the brother. Leaving nothing for him.

"Hold it!" Matt shouted as their unexpected provider tried to leave. "I can't let you leave with out. Here talk half of mine, that way you can have something in your belly."

The nameless boy turned and smiled. "No you keep it."

"No I can't let you do that, if you don't eat you won't last long." He was right he wouldn't last very long without food.

"Okay I'll take it." But he stopped before he took the bread. What caught his eye was Matt's sister Shell; he guessed her full name was Shelly. She had stopped shaking and was blue in the face. Staring the boy stuttered before he got to what he was about to say. "Take her to the baker's down the road, it's just around the corner. Tell him she needs a doctor and that both of you need a home!"

Matt just stared. What came out of the little boy's mouth amazed him. "What's wrong? She's just cold."

But the boy shook his head. "If you don't she'll be dead in the morning. I've seen it happen to a lot of kids."

Matt still stared. "Okay I owe you!" He smiled his thanks and picked up his sister. Stepping down the road a few feet he stopped and turned around "I never did ask you your name? Are you sure you don't want to come?"

"No, and I'm sorry I never had a name."

"That's to bad, it doesn't really matter, and we'll tell him you sent us I bet he'd like to know that!"

The boy nodded and turned in the opposite direction. Walking in the cold was a hard thing to do when you had little food and no shelter to take a rest. He knew he had a few choices. The first was the find an alley and sleep there. The next was to see if the shelters were still open, but they weren't very safe. The last was not as good as any of them but still he could pull it off.

Sighing he ran off towards what Matt had told him to avoid. If he were lucky some of them would be compassionate to let a five-year-old boy sleep where it's warm. His chances of actually getting inside were slim but it would be worth it to try.

* * *

Arriving moments later he watched the older crowd from a distance. He was always cautious of them and for good reasons. They were what gave those who had no homes a bad name. They stole from the younger children and often caused most of the injuries to those who weren't tough enough in a fight.

Fights were stupid, he never understood the point. For him it seemed to be a bad excuse to show off. Not only do they cause problems for those not strong enough but also the winner usually winds up as a target for someone else who thinks they're stronger.

Stepping as close as he could with out being noticed the boy surveyed what he was seeing.

Most of them were sitting huddled around a fire discussing or looking through their daily cache. A few were standing by the door, but that wasn't a problem. One though in particular caught his eye. He was alone by a small fire. The blonde boy was what he could guess at least eight; old enough to withstand the older crowd. He seemed to be looking at something but the boy couldn't tell what it was.

Moving closer he saw the older boy also had a very large amount of food in his bag. Looking down at the bread in his hand the boy thought about stealing some. There was not way the blond boy would miss an apple or a peice of breadwith the amountof food he had. But he changed his mind as the blond boy stood up and stretched picking up his bag. There was no chance of stealing anything without being noticed now.

Backing up the boy tried to go around the corner of the building without being noticed. Unfortunately luck wasn't on his side when he bumped into something with a loud 'Thump.'

Turning slowly, he found himself in a position he never wanted to be in.

"Hey look what I found!" A tall young man called as he picked the boy up with his grubby hands. His face had two scars, one above his left eye and the other on his jaw. His clothes weren't nearly as dirty as the boy's but they stank like the sewer.

"Looks like we have a little spy!"

At first the boy tried to wriggle out of his grasp but went limp after the last comment. "How can I be a spy, I have nothing to spy on!"

"Oh so young but with a big mouth." One laughed as the man who caught him brought him to the crowd by the larger fire infront of the large entrance to the store house.

"Aww he's so cute." One of the girls gushed. "Why don't you put him down now, I think he's scared."

"No I'm not, I just want down!" The little boy screamed. "Put me down." He hollered as he started to wriggle again. "I didn't do anythin'," He screamed again as one of the other men came over and slapped his face.

"Now now that's not how we talk to those who are older than us! Learn to show some respect."

"I don't respect you!" He spat back. "You steal from the little kids." He was right and on several occasions they had stolen from him, but only after he ran and only if they caught him would they get what they wanted.

"Oh I think we have a fighter here! He's trying to defend all his little friends." Another joked from the background. "What's he got there?"

"Hmm lets see." The man holding the boy said as he threw him to the ground and held him down.

"Stop it! That's nime." The boy yelled.

"Oh it's a piece of bread, how nice of you to bring this to us!" The man smiled.

The boy hated the smile it was annoying and cheeky. Moving quickly he slapped the man in the face and tried to get away as soon as he hit the ground.

"Arghhh!" The man cried out as the boy hit his eye. "He hit me." Most of the othefrs didn't try to get him, instead they laughed at the man the boy had hit.

The boy wasn't done there before he ran he made sure to stomp on the man's foot. "OW! That hurt you little punk." Most of the others were laughing but the boy wasn't laughing instead he had a feeling he was going to be hurting in the morning. There was no way he could get away.

"Get back here you!" the man yelled as he grabbed the boy around his wait and spun him around. Pulling his arm back he smashed his fist into the boys face and gave him a final kick sending him to the corner for the doorway.

At first the boy couldn't get up but he realized they would win if he stayed down. So taking in a shaky breath of air he stood up with shaking legs. They were stiff but he was able to move them.

"What you want more?" The grubby man said as he moved towards him as he cracked each knuckle.

The boy looked around trying to find an escape, but there were to many of them. Something though caught his eye. The blond boy from before was watching him, but not with annoyance like the others but something else. Was it pity?

"I guess he's still wanting more." A figure laughed from the side.

The boy made an angry face but looked at the blonde with pleading eyes.He didn't want to fight, he just wanted to leave and find a place to sleep. Butsomething made him feel that the blondboy could stop them. But no help came.

"So you wanna play! I'll give you a game you'll never forget." The man who had hit him earlier said as he hit the boy once again in the face, giving him a large black eye.

"Leave me alone." He called in desperation. There was no way out, there were just too many of them surrounding him.

"Leave you alone? You came here looking to steal from us; we know how you all work. Besides this is our hide out, you know that we deserve it more than you."

"Liar!" The boy screamed, he was the one who's been here longer, and he even helped the young man who was hurting him. He gave him a share of his food once. The betrayal he felt was amazing. Is this really what people were like? Mean and abusive? Maybe not having a family is a good thing; anything that creates such a person is horrible.

"A liar huh?" The man grabbed him by the throat and squeezed slowly. "I think you should apologize."

The boy did no such thing; in stead he wheezed trying to get air into his lungs. The pain was starting to get to him. Everything was getting hazy and dark but something stopped it as he fell to the ground with a loud thud.

"Leave him alone! Didn't you hear him?" It was the blond boy, he had saved him.

"You little punk, you're justas bad as he is." The man screamed as he tried to hit the blond boy but failed as his hit was dodged artfully.

"Letting anger get to you makes you lose focus. Let the boy go!" The boy guessed thatlike him, that the blond had aged quickly; even his language was close to that of an adult.

"What are you going to do? Kill me?"

"I could try, I've never tried that before,but I probably could easily."

The boy just stared as the man who had hurt him gave up and left into the woods cursing everything that moved. At first he thought it was all very funny, but then he remembered the pain and he started to cry.

He didn't notice the blond boy come up next to him as he cried. "Boy's don't cry kid. If you do that too much they'll try to hurt you more." He smiled. "My name is Solo." His smiled broadened as he held out a hand to help the boy up.

"I don't have a name." The boy mumbled.

"That's okay kid, how about you stick with me, that way you're safe from these guys and we can work together to get through this." The boy smiled at the offer and he knew he had no choice but to accept it.

"Okay!" He smiled.

"Good it's settled, friends?" He asked as he held out his hand.

"Friends" The boy confirmed as he awkwardly shook Solo's hands.

* * *

_A/N: Well that's what my thrid story in over three months, i think i'll be busy updating them all. _

_What do you think so far. I tried to make a reason up for why Solo says boy's don't cry so i hope it worked out._

_Please review, I'd love to nkow what you think and feel free to read my other stoires._


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